Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and several collaborators used NVIDIA GPUs to create a highly detailed 3D digital reconstruction of tissue from a rat’s hippocampus, the memory center of the brain.

The reconstruction, powered by TITAN GPUs, helped the researchers precisely determine the number and size categories of synapses — the connections that carry signals between brain cells, or neurons. Synapse size determines the memory capacity of a neuron and synapses in the human brain are believed to be similar to those in rats’ brains.

The team found that there are actually 26 discrete sizes that can change over a span of a few minutes, meaning that the brain has a far great capacity for storing information than previous thought.

About Brad Nemire

Brad Nemire is on the Developer Marketing team and loves reading about all of the fascinating research being done by developers using NVIDIA GPUs. Reach out to Brad on Twitter @BradNemire and let him know how you’re using GPUs to accelerate your research. Brad graduated from San Diego State University and currently resides in San Jose, CA. Follow @BradNemire on Twitter